Apparatus for adding moisture to air

ABSTRACT

Improved apparatus is provided for adding moisture to air. The apparatus includes hollow cabinet means, having an air inlet and outlet, and humidifier means for adding moisture to an air stream flowing between the inlet and outlet. The humidifier means includes evaporative media means mounted for movement across the air stream and through a moisture reservoir that is supplied with liquid, such as tap water or the like. In accordance with the present invention, means are provided for purging or draining fluidized material, such as tap water and the mineral salts precipitated therefrom, from the reservoir and these drain means include a fluid inlet that is connected to the reservoir via siphon means comprising conduit means including an inverted generally U-shaped section.

United States Patent 1 Schulze, Sr. I

11 3,739,597 1 June 19, 1973 [54] APPARATUS FOR ADDING MOISTURE TO [21]Appl. N0.: 172,255

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 34,495, May 4,1970, Pat. No.

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 135,435 11/1949 Australia 62/314 184,2334/1907 Germany 62/311 Primary Examiner-William J. Wye Attorney-Walter E.Rule, Francis H. Boos, Jr. and Frank L. Neuhauser ABSTRACT Improvedapparatus is provided for adding moisture to air. The apparatus includeshollow cabinet means, having an air inlet and outlet, and humidifiermeans for adding moisture to an air stream flowing between the inlet andoutlet. The humidifier means includes evaporative media means mountedfor movement across the air stream and through a moisture reservoir thatis supplied with liquid, such as tap water or the like. In accor dancewith the present invention, means are provided for purging or drainingfluidized material, such as tap water and the mineral salts precipitatedtherefrom, from the reservoir and these drain means include a fluidinlet that is connected to the reservoir via siphon means comprisingconduit means including an inverted generally U-shaped section.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures APPARATUS FOR ADDING MOISTURE TO AIR CROSSREFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a division underRule 147 of copending application Ser. No. 34,495, filed May 4, 1970,now U.S. Pat. No. 3,643,930.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to improved apparatusfor adding moisture to air and, more particularly, to apparatus of thissort comprising hollow cabinet means having an air inlet and outlet,humidifier means including evaporative media means mounted for movementacross the air stream and through a moisture reservoir, and means fordraining fluidized material from the reservoir. The present invention isalso concerned with providing novel unitized means to serve both as thehumidifier moisture reservoir and'also to collect condensate that dripsfrom cooling coil means located adjacent the humidifier.

Previously, one of the most distressing problems in designing apparatusfor adding moisture to air has been the disposal of the mineral depositsor salts that are precipitated from the tap water, which is generallyused as the humidifier moisture source liquid. These mineral deposits orsalts are precipitated onto the evaporative media means and into themoisture reservoir when the level of minerals in the moisture sourceliquid reaches and exceeds the saturation point. Of course, thesemineral deposits or salts must be removed from the reservoir, lest theyeventually fill the same and thus render the humidifier deviceinoperative. Heretofore, various means have been provided for removingthese salts or mineral deposits from the humidifier moisture reservoir.Some of these prior-art schemes, such as those illustrated in US. Pat.,No. Re. 26,243 and No. 3,315,948, provide means which continually draina portion of the fluid from the reservoir and thus require considerableexpenditures for water. Others, such as that described in US. Pat. No.3,456,927, while providing for only periodic draining of the reservoir,employ an air-operated drain valve which is most complex in constructionand operation and hence quite expensive to utilize. All of theseprior-art means have been expensive to build, operate and maintain andhave been inefficient in operation when compared with the presentinvention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, ithas been found that the aforenoted prior-art problems can be overcome bythe improved apparatus provided by the present invention. Basically,this apparatus includes hollow cabinet means, having an air inlet andoutlet, and humidifier means for adding moisture to an air streamflowing between the air inlet and outlet. The humidifier means includesevaporative media means mounted for movement across the air stream andthrough a moisture reservoir which is supplied'with liquid, such as tapwater or the like. In accordance with one aspect of the presentinvention, means are provided for draining fluidized material, such asthe moisture source liquid and the mineral salts precipitated therefrom,from the reservoir and these drain means' include a fluid inlet that isconnected to the reservoir via siphon means comprising conduit meansincluding an inverted generally U-shaped section. Preferably,

valved means are provided for supplying the liquid to the moisturereservoir, along with first control means for controlling the valvedmeans to maintain a level of liquid within the reservoir that issufficiently high to supply liquid to the media means but below thebight portion of the inverted section, and second control means forperiodically overriding the first control means and thus causing thevalved means to admit suf-. ficient liquid into the reservoir to raisethe fluid level therein above the bight portion and thereby initiateperiodic purging or draining of the fluidized material from thereservoir via the drain is intended to be drained through the firstdrain means 48 and means.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, novelunitized means is provided to serve both as the humidifier moisturereservoir and also to collect condensate that drips from cooling coilmeans located adjacent the humidifier means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The present invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1- is a somewhatschematic, partly-sectioned, front elevational viewof an air conditioning unit employing a presently preferred form of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary view showing certain details ofconstruction of the form of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2, but illustrating an alternative formof the present invention; and,

FIG. 4 is a simplified, schematic wiring diagram showing an electricalcontrol circuit which may be utilized with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, the hollowcabinet 11 has an air inlet opening 17 through its top wall 12 and anair outlet opening 18 through the lower part of its left side wall 14,and electrically powered fan or blower means 19, having a suction portand a discharge port 19b, are mounted within the lower portion of thecabinet 11 for conveying a stream of air as indicated by the arrows 20through the cabinet 1 1 between the cabinet air inlet 17 and outlet 18.Of course, the cabinet air inlet 17 is connected by duct means 21 to'theroom return air inlets (not shown), while the cabinet air outlet 18 isconnected by other duct means 22 to the room conditioned air" outlets(not shown).

Although it should be understood at the outset that the improved meansprovided by the present invention may be used with various forms of airconditioning units, the particular form of air conditioning unit 10illustrated inFlG. l is provided with generally conventional coolingcoil means 23 for removing heat from the air stream 20 flowing throughthe cabinet 11 and conventional heater means 24 for adding heat to theair stream 20, but is further provided with a presently preferred formof the novel humidifier means 25 which are constructed in accordancewith the present invention and will be described in greater detailhereinafter.

As somewhat schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, the cooling coil means23 comprises a conventional evaporative cooling coil bundle 26 of theso-called splitsystem variety of air cooling system. The coil bundle 26is mounted within the hollow cabinet 11 by bracket means 27 fastened onthe interior of the upper part of the cabinet right side wall 15 and isarranged to slope downwardly and leftwardly across the air stream 20,terminating at a point spaced above second bracket means 28 that arefastened to the interior of the cabinet left side wall 14 and extendgenerally horizontally therefrom over the blower means 19. And, in theparticular form of the air conditioning unit illustrated in FIG. 1, theheater means 24 is schematically shown as being mounted on the lowerpart of the cabinet rear wall 16 between the discharge port 19b of theblower means 19 and the cabinet air outlet opening 18. As notedpreviously, the heater means 24 is conventional and may be eitherelectrically-powered or gas or oilfired.

Turning now to the presently preferred form of the improved humidifiermeans 25 that is provided in accordance with the present invention andlooking especially at FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, it can be seen thatthis presently preferred form includes evaporative media means 30,preferably in the form of an endless belt 31, which may be made ofvarious types of material, such as double-woven wire belting, porousfabric, open cell foam, or the like. Illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, thebelt 31 is strung around a drive roll 32 and an idler roll 33, whichare, in turn, spaced apart from one another and rotatably journaled inbelt frame means 34 mounted adjacent to the cooling coil bundle 26 butupstream of the pattern of air flow 20 through the cooling coil bundle26. As more specifically shown in FIG. 1, the upper edge of the beltframe means 34 is provided with hook-like first mounting means 35 whichare engageable with complementary second mounting means 36 provided onthe upper edge of the cooling coil bundle 26, whereby the belt framemeans 34 is supported by the cooling coil bundle 26 which is, in turn,supported by the aforenoted first bracket means 27 provided on the upperinterior of the cabinet right side wall 15. Thus, the major planes ofboth the humidifier belt 31 and the cooling coil bundle 26 are arrangedgenerally parallel to one another with the belt 31 being movable acrossthe air stream 20 and having its lower end wrapped around the lower oneof the two rolls 32 and extending downwardly and leftwardly to a pointspaced below the lower left corner of the cooling coil bundle 26, butspaced above, and from, from the second bracket means 28.

The structure thus far described requires means for collectingcondensate that drips downwardly off the cooling coil bundle 26 duringoperation of the air conditioning unit 10 in its cooling mode, lest thisdripping condensate causes problems to equipment, such as the blowermeans 19, that is located within the lower part of the cabinet 11. And,reservoir means are required for supplying moisture to the belt 31 ofthe evaporative media means 30 which, in turn, adds this moisture to theair stream 20 flowing between the cabinet air inlet '17 and outlet 18.Heretofore, separate means have been employed to perform thesecondensate drip collecting and moisture reservoir functions. However, inaccordance with one aspect of the present invention, unitized means 40is provided for performing both of these two functions. As shown inFIGS. 1 and 2, this unitized means 40 comprises a single generallyrectangular, pan-like member which is provided with feet 41 that restatop the aforenoted second bracket means 28 and is located in the spaceprovided between this second bracket means 28 and the left bottom edgesof the evaporative media means belt 31 and the cooling coil bundle 26.

In the form of the present invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2,unitized means 40 has integrally formed weir means 42 which subdivide itinto a reservoir portion 43 that extends under the lower left edge ofthe evaporative media belt 31 and a condensate drip collection portion44 that extends under the lower left edge of the cooling coil bundle 26.The evaporative media belt 31 is moved across the air stream .20 andthrough the moisture reservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40 byrotation of the drive roll 32 which is itself rotated by a drive belt 45that is connected to the rotary output shaft of an electric motor 46mounted on the exterior of the cabinet left side wall 14.

As further shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, drain means 47 are provided fordraining fluid from the unitized means 40. As best shown in FIG. 2, thepresently preferred form of these drain means 47 includes first drainmeans comprising a first conduit means 48 having a first fluid inlet 49,which extends through an opening 49' provided at the bottom of the rightside wall of the unitary means 40, and is directly connected to the dripcollection portion 44 of the unitized means 40 and second drain meanscomprising second conduit means 50 having a second fluid inlet 51connected to the reservoir portion 43 of the unitized means 40 viasiphon means that includes an inverted generally U-shaped conduitsection 52. The inverted U-shaped conduit section 52 has its bightportion 53 located above the first fluid inlet 49 but below the top ofthe weir means 42. More specifically, the first fluid inlet 49 isconnected to' the drip collection portion 44 of the unitary means 40just above the bottom thereof and the remainder of the first drain meansconduit 48 extends rightwardly and downwardly therefrom with its outlet54 being connected to a sewer system (not shown). The second fluid inlet51 is vertically arranged over and spaced slightly above the bottom ofthe reservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40 and forms a downwardextension of the left leg of the inverted U-shaped conduit section 52through which it is connected to the second drain means conduit 50. Thebight portion 53 of this inverted U-shaped conduit section 52 extendsthrough an opening 56 provided in the weir means 42, while the outlet55. of the second drain means conduit 50 forms an extension of the rightleg of the inverted U-shaped conduit section 52 and extends downwardlythrough an opening 57 provided in the bottom of the drip collectionportion 44 of the unitary means 40 and another opening 58 provided inthe second bracket means 28, and thence rightwardly and into connectionwith the first drain means conduit 48.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment 25a of the presentinvention, which is otherwise generally similar to the preferredembodiment 25 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, except that the fluid inletfor the second drain means conduit 50 is also connected to the reservoirportion 43 of the unitary means 40 through an upright generally U-shapedconduit section 60. As shown in FIG. 3, the bight portion 61 of thisupright U-shaped conduitsection 60 is located beneath the second bracketmeans 28 and the right bottom of the reservoir portion 43 of the unitarymeans 40, while its left leg extends upwardly through openings 62 and 63which are respectively provided in the second bracket means 28 and thebottom of the reservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40. The rightleg of the upright U-shaped conduit section 60 extends upwardlyexternally of the unitary means 40 and is connected to the left leg ofan alternative form of inverted U-shaped conduit section 520 which isalso mounted externally of the unitary means 40 but has its bightportion 53a located at the same elevation as the aforenoted preferredform bight portion 53. With this alternative form 25a of the presentinvention (FIG. 3), only the opening 49', 62 and 63 need be provided andthe need for openings 56, 57 and 58 is eliminated. Thus, thisalternative form 25a reduces the three fluid-tight connections whichare, of course, required between the drain means conduit sections andthe three openings 49', 56, 57 to only the one required at the opening63. Furthermore, this alternative form 25a of the present invention hasthe advantage of providing an S-shaped trap between the fluid inlet 51aand the outlet 55 of the drain means conduit 50 that is connected to thereservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40. Both of the aforedescribedembodiments 25 and 25a of the present invention are provided withsimilar means for supplying liquid, such as tap water or the like, tothe moisture source reservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40 andcontrol means for controlling the input of this liquid to the reservoirpor' tion 43 and for periodically purging or draining fluidizedmaterial, such as the moisture source liquid and the mineral saltsprecipitated therefrom, from the reservoir and out through the drainmeans 47 to the unshown sewer system.

Turning now to the drawing, with particular reference to FIGS. 1 and 4thereof, there are illustrated typical means which have been employedwith success to perform these last-mentioned functions of liquid supplyand control for both of the aforenoted embodiments 25 and 25a of thepresent invention. As illustrated, the means for supplying liquid to thereservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40 comprises an electricsolenoid valve 70 of the normally closed variety, which is suitablymounted on the interior of the cabinet top wall 12. This liquid supplymeans valve 70 has its inlet connected through a supply conduit 71 to asource of liquid, usually tap water, well water, or the like (notshown), and has its outlet connected through a discharge conduit 72which extends downwardly over the top of the left end of thereservoirportion 43 of the unitary means 40. As best shown in the wiring diagramof FIG. 4, this normally closed liquid supply means valve 70 has itssolenoid 70s connected in electrical series with the normally opencontacts 73a and 73b of a thermally actuable switch 73 and the normallyclosed contacts 74a and 74b of a float switch 74 across a pair ofelectrical lines L and L, which, in turn, are connected across anelectric control power voltage source. As illustrated in FIG. 1, thethermally actuable switch 73 can be suitably mounted adjacent thecabinet air outlet 18 to thus sense the temperature of the air stream 20following the addition of heat thereto by the heating means 24. And, asbest shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the float switch 74 can be mounted with itsfloat located within the reservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40and arranged so as to maintain the level of liquid within the reservoirportion 43 at a socalled normal level that is sufficiently high tosupply liquid to the lower left end of the evaporation media means belt31 but below the bight portions 53 or 53a of the inverted generallyU-shaped sections52 and 52a of the second drain conduit means 50 ofeither of the aforedescribed embodiments 25 or 25a of the presentinvention.

As further shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the blower 19 has its motor 19mconnected across the electric control power source in electrical serieswith the normally open contacts 73a and 73b of the thermally actuableswitch 73 but in electrical parallel with the seriesconnected normallyclosed contacts 74a and 74b of the float switch 74 and the solenoid s ofthe normally closed liquid supply valve 70. Similarly, the drive motor46 for the movable evaporative media means belt 31 and an electric drivemotor m for an adjustable timer 75, that is mountedatop the upper rightpart of the cabinet top wall 12, are each connected across the controlpower lines L and L in electrical series with the normally open contacts730 and 73b of the thermally actuable switch 73 but in electricalparallel with the seriesconnected normally closed contacts 74a and 74bof the float switch 74 and the solenoid 70s of the normally closedliquid supply valve 70. And, in further accordance with the presentinvention, there is provided a purge or flush switch 76 which has itsnormally open contacts 76a and 76b connected in electrical parallel withthe float switch 74and mechanically connected to the timer through cammeans or the like (not shown).

Prior to commencement of operation. of the aforedescribed apparatus, thetimer 75 is manually set by the operation of 'means such as the rotaryhandle 75h shown in FIG. 1 to cause closure of the normally opencontacts 760 and 76b of the purge switch 76 periodically after theelapse of an adjustable predetermined length of time and to cause thesecontacts 76a and 76b to remain closed for an adjustable predeterminedlength of time. Following this, automatic operation of the apparatusthen commences when the temperature level around the thermally actuableswitch 73 at the cabinet air outlet 18 reaches the temperature levelrequired to actuate it to close its normally open contacts 73a and 73b.Thisenergizes the blower motor 19m, the evaporative media belt drivemotor46 and the timer motor 75m and, whenever the liquid levelin thereservoir portion 43 of the unitary means 40 is :below the aforenotednormal" level and the float switch contacts 74a and 74b are closed, alsoenergizes the solenoid 70s to open the normally closed liquid :inletvalve 70 and admit liquid therethrough. into the reservoir portion 43until these contacts 74a and 74b are opened by the upward movement ofthe float of the switch 74 as the liquid reaches the so-called normallevel.

As long as the temperature level around the .thermally actuable switch73'remainrs sufficient to continue its actuation and maintain closure ofits normally open contacts 73a and 73b and energization of the blowermotor 19m, evaporative belt drive motor 46 and the timer motor 75m, theair stream 20 will first be drawn downwardly from the room vents via thefirst duct means 21 and the cabinet air inlet 17 and through theevaporative media means belt 31, where it will receive moisture that isfirst acquired by the belt 31 during its movement through the liquidcontained in the reservoir portion 43. Next, the moistened air will moverightwardly and downwardly through the cooling coil bundle 26, then,leftwardly through the blower suction port 19a and out of the blowerdischarge port 1% and across the heating means 24 where it has heattransferred to it and, finally, back to the room conditionedair ductsthrough the second duct means 22.

As the moisture is thus transferred from the reservoir portion 43 of theunitary means 40 to the air stream 20 via movable evaporative mediameans belt 31, the liquid level in the reservoir 43 will, of course,from time to time be reduced sufficiently to cause the float of thefloat switch 74 to move downwardly to reclose its contacts 74a and 74band thus energize the solenoid 70s of the solenoid valve 70 long enoughto admit sufficient liquid through the liquid supply valve 70 to restorethe liquid level in the reservoir portion to the so-called normal level.Hence, it can be seen that the solenoid valve 70 comprises valved meansfor supplying liquid to the reservoir portion 43 of the unitary means40, while the float switch 74 comprises first control means forcontrolling the valved liquid supply means 70 to maintain the so-callednormal level of liquid within the reservoir portion 43 that issufficiently high to supply liquid to the evaporative media belt 31 butbelow the bight portion 53 or 53a of the inverted generally U- shapedconduit section 52 or 52a of the drain means 47 that is provided fordraining the reservoir portion 43 of either of the aforedescribedembodiments 25 or 25a of the present invention.

If no control means other than the first control means 74 were providedfor controlling the valved liquid supply means 70, the humidifier means25 or 25a might possibly be rendered inoperative by the salts or mineraldeposits which might be precipitated onto the evaporative media meansbelt 31 and into the moisture reservoir portion 43 of the unitized means40 from the tap water, well water, or the like, that is generallysupplied to the reservoir portion 43 via the valved liquid supply means70, and thus clog the reservoir portion 43.

However, this potential clogging problem is avoided by theaforedescribed drain means 47 and by second control means which areprovided in accordance with the present invention for periodicallyoverriding the first control means 74 and thus causing the valved liquidsupply means 70 to admit sufficient liquid into the reservoir portion 43of the unitized means 40 to raise the fluid level therein above thebigh't portion 53 or 53a of the inverted U-shaped conduit section 52 or520 of the second drain means conduit 50 of either of the aforenotedembodiments 25 or 25a and thus initiate flushing, purging and drainingof fluidized material, such as the moisture source liquid and themineral salts precipitated therefrom, from the reservoir portion 43 viathese siphon means 52 or 52a and second drain means 50 to the unshownsewer means. More specifically, the second control means comprise theaforedescribed flush or purge switch 76 that is connected in electricalparallel with the first control means float switch 74 and isperiodically actuated by the timer 75 after the elapse of an adjustablepredetermined length of time to close its normally open contacts 76a and76b and to cause these contacts 760 and 76b to remain closed for anadjustable predetermined length of time that is manually preset by theoperation of means such as the timer handle 75h as indicated above. Withthis arrangement, the second control means 76 can be operated by thetimer 75 to override the first control means 74 and thus temporarilytake away control of the valved supply means from the first controlmeans '74, so that the valved liquid supply means 70 can be periodicallycaused to admit sufficient liquid into the reservoir portion 43 of theunitized means 40 to raise the fluid level therein above the bightportion 53 or 53a of the inverted U-shaped section 52 or 52a of thesecond drain means conduit 50 of either of the aforedescribedembodiments 25 or 250 of the present invention and thereby initiateflushing and draining of fluidized material, such as the moisture sourceliquid and the mineral salts precipitated therefrom, through'the seconddrain means 50 via the siphon means 52 or 52a for discharge through thecombined drain means outlet 54 into the sewer system (not shown).

Preferably, the relative sizing of the valved liquid supply means 70 andthe second drain and siphon means 50 and 52 or 52a is arranged such thatthe rate of fluid drainage via the second drain means 50 should exceedthe liquid input rate via the valved liquid supply means 70. It shouldbe noted, however, that should the rate of liquid input into thereservoir portion 43 exceed the rate of fluid drainage through thesecond drain means 50, the fluid can spill over the top of the weirmeans 42 and be subsequently discharged to the unshown sewer system viathe first drain means 48 and the outlet 54 of the combined drain means47.

It should, of course, be understood that the frequency and duration ofthis flushing or purging period should be varied in accordance with thelevels of concentration of the mineral deposits or salts in theparticular moisture source liquid that is employed. Good results havebeen achieved when using tap water supplied by the Louisville, Kentucky,Water Company as the moisture source liquid by setting the timer tooperate to close second control means purge switch contacts 76a and 76bfor a six-minute interval after each 8-hour period of closure of thenormally opened contacts 73a and 73b of the thermally actuable switch73. This can be varied through manual means such as operation of thetimer handle 75h, with the length of the flushing or purge period beingmade greater and more frequent when using a moisture source liquidcontaining higherconcentrations of mineral salts, or shorter and lessfrequent for source liquids containing lesser concentrations of mineralsalts.

It should further be understood that the aforedescribed operation isconcerned only with the heating mode of the air conditioner 10.Obviously, it is not intended that the normally open contacts 73a and73b of the thermally actuable switch 73 should be closed during thecooling mode of the air conditioning unit. Thus, it should be understoodthat, during this cooling mode, these contacts 730 and 73b are intendedto remain open and thus prohibit operation of the valved liquid supplymeans 70, the timer 75, the evaporative media belt means drive motor 46,or the blower motor 19m by the circuitry illustrated in the wiringdiagram of FIG. 4. During this cooling mode, it is intended that theunitized means 40 shall serve only to collect condensate that dripsdownwardly from the cooling coil bundle 26 and into the drip collectionportion 44 thereof, from which the collected condensate is intended tobe rained through the first drain means 48 and discharged'to the unshownsewer system via the outlet 54 of the combined drain means 47. However,it is to be noted, that, if the inlet 49 of the first drain means 48should become clogged or blocked, the collected condensate couldultimately overflow the weir means 42 and into the reservoir portion 43and be subsequently drained from the unitary means 40 to the unshownsewer means via the second drain means conduit 50 and the outlet 54 ofthe combined drain means 47.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that while there havebeen described what, at present, are considered to be presentlypreferred embodiments of this invention in accordance with patentstatutes, changes may be made in the disclosed apparatus whithoutactually departing from the true spirit and scope of this invention. Itis, therefore, intended that the appended claims shall cover suchmodifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit andscope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for adding moisture to and removing heat from air,comprising:

a. hollow cabinet means having an air inlet and an air outlet;

b. cooling coil means mounted within said cabinet means between saidinlet and outlet;

c. humidifier means for adding moisture to an air stream flowing betweensaid inlet and outlet, said humidifier means including evaporative mediameans mounted adjacent said coil means and being movable across the airstream;

d. unitized means for collecting condensate that drips from said coilmeans and also providing a reservoir for liquid to be added to saidmedia means; and

e. drain means for draining fluid from said unitized means; i saidunitized means further including weir means subdividing said unitizedmeans into a drip collection portion and a reservoir portion.

2. The invention of claim 1, wherein said weir means and said unitizedmeans are integrally formed.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein said drain means includes firstdrain means having a first fluid inlet directly connected to said dripcollection portion and second drain means having a second fluid inletconnected to said reservoir portion via siphon means.

4. The invention of claim 3, wherein said second drain means has a fluidoutlet connected to said first drain means.

5. The invention of claim 3, wherein said siphon means comprises conduitmeans including an inverted generally U-shaped section.

6. The invention of claim 5, wherein said inverted U- shaped section hasits bight portion located above said first fluid inlet but below the topof said weir means.

7. The invention of claim 6, wherein said second fluid inlet is alsoconnected to said reservoir portion via conduitmeans including anupright'generally U-shaped section.

8. The invention of claim 5, further including:

a. valved means for supplying liquid to said reservoir portion;

b. first control means for controlling said valved means to maintain alevel of liquid within said reservoir portion sufficiently high tosupply liquid to said media but below said bight portion; and,

0. second control means for periodically overriding said first controlmeans and. thus causing said valved means to admit sufficient liquidinto said reservoir portion to raise the fluid level therein above saidbight portion and thereby initiate draining of fluid from said reservoirportion via said second drain means. 7

9. The invention of claim 8, wherein the relative sizing of said valvedmeans and said second drain and siphon means is arranged such that thefluid drainage rate via said second drain means should exceed the liquidinput rate via said valved means.

1. Apparatus for adding moisture to and removing heat from air,comprising: a. hollow cabinet means having an air inlet and an airoutlet; b. cooling coil means mounted within said cabinet means betweensaid inlet and outlet; c. humidifier means for adding moisture to an airstream flowing between said inlet and outlet, said humidifier meansincluding evaporative media means mounted adjacent said coil means andbeing movable across the air stream; d. unitized means for collectingcondensate that drips from said coil means and also providing areservoir for liquid to be added to said media means; and e. drain meansfor draining fluid from said unitized means; said unitized means furtherincluding weir means subdividing said unitized means into a dripcollection portion and a reservoir portion.
 2. The invention of claim 1,wherein said weir means and said unitized means are integrally formed.3. The inventiOn of claim 2, wherein said drain means includes firstdrain means having a first fluid inlet directly connected to said dripcollection portion and second drain means having a second fluid inletconnected to said reservoir portion via siphon means.
 4. The inventionof claim 3, wherein said second drain means has a fluid outlet connectedto said first drain means.
 5. The invention of claim 3, wherein saidsiphon means comprises conduit means including an inverted generallyU-shaped section.
 6. The invention of claim 5, wherein said invertedU-shaped section has its bight portion located above said first fluidinlet but below the top of said weir means.
 7. The invention of claim 6,wherein said second fluid inlet is also connected to said reservoirportion via conduit means including an upright generally U-shapedsection.
 8. The invention of claim 5, further including: a. valved meansfor supplying liquid to said reservoir portion; b. first control meansfor controlling said valved means to maintain a level of liquid withinsaid reservoir portion sufficiently high to supply liquid to said mediabut below said bight portion; and, c. second control means forperiodically overriding said first control means and thus causing saidvalved means to admit sufficient liquid into said reservoir portion toraise the fluid level therein above said bight portion and therebyinitiate draining of fluid from said reservoir portion via said seconddrain means.
 9. The invention of claim 8, wherein the relative sizing ofsaid valved means and said second drain and siphon means is arrangedsuch that the fluid drainage rate via said second drain means shouldexceed the liquid input rate via said valved means.